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Daniel, Murray State defeat Tennessee State 69-48

By The Associated Press

MURRAY, Ky. — Ed Daniel scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season to boost Murray State to a 69-48 win over Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee State on Saturday night.

Isaiah Canaan added 16 points and four assists as the Racers’ (18-5, 9-2) won for the seventh time in their last eight games.

A 25-8 run by the Racers in the second half sealed the win.

Tennessee State (14-11, 8-4) came up with 22 offensive rebounds, but Murray State held the Tigers to 28.8 percent field goal shooting (17 of 59) and forced them into 19 turnovers.

Kellen Thornton, who is second to Daniel in the OVC in rebounding with 9.5 per game, led Tennessee State in scoring with 12 points.

Murray State took a 9-3 lead in the opening 3½ minutes and led by as many as 12 points en route to a 32-23 halftime lead.

Tennessee State opened the second half with a 10-5 run to pull to within 37-33 before Canaan’s 3-pointer made it a seven-point Racers lead with 14:40 on the clock.

Robert Covington answered with a 3 for the Tigers, who continued to build momentum as they cut Murray State’s lead to 42-40 with 11:40 to go.

A turnover by Michael Green on the Tigers’ next possession denied them a chance to tie or take the lead, and baskets by Latreze Mushatt and Canaan gave the Racers a 46-40 lead at the 9:10 mark.

A year ago, Feb. 9, 2012, Tennessee State did what no other team could during last year’s regular season — beat Murray State. That loss ended the Racers’ streak of 23 straight wins to start the season. Murray State was the final undefeated team in the nation at the time.

The Racers met the Tigers again in the OVC tournament final, and Jewuan Long hit the go-ahead shot with 4 seconds remaining to send Murray State into the NCAA tournament with 30 wins.

The victory margin was the largest for the Blue Raiders (22-4, 14-1 Sun Belt Conference) since Nov. 17, 2001, when they defeated Bryan College by 56 points, 115-59. They also won their 11th straight game and are 14-0 at home.

The win was Middle Tennessee’s 112th in Sun Belt play for coach Kermit Davis, tying the conference record of South Alabama’s Ronnie Arrow, who retired this season. It also broke a tie with former Alabama-Birmingham coach Gene Bartow.

Middle Tennessee made 29 of 45 shots, including 10 of 19 3-pointers, to better its 56 percent shooting in a 97-53 win Nov. 9 over Alabama State.

Emil Jones scored 16 points for the Trojans (10-15, 5-9), who had their lowest point total and suffered their most lopsided loss this season.

Mann scored a career-high 26 points on 6-of-11 3-point shooting, while Clark had 25 points and made 5 of 11 from deep for the Bruins (20-5, 11-1), who have won 11 of 12 after losing to Murray State 79-74 Thursday.

The rest of Belmont’s players were a combined 3 of 12 from 3-point range. The Bruins shot 46.7 percent (28 of 60) from the field and made all eight of their free-throw attempts.

Travis Betran had 22 points and Chris Horton 10 rebounds for the Governors (5-20, 1-10), who lost their eighth consecutive game and 16th in their past 17.

Belmont pulled away as Mann scored eight straight points and 10 total during a 14-2 run to end the first half and take a 36-21 intermission advantage.

No. 13 Kansas State 79, Iowa State 70: Rodney McGruder scored 22 points and Angel Rodriguez added 20 as Kansas State knocked off Iowa State to take sole possession of first place in the Big 12.

No. 14 Butler 59, George Washington 56: Rotnei Clark scored 14 points and Butler nearly blew a 17-point lead, going the last 7½ minutes without a field goal, before holding on for a victory over George Washington.

No. 23 Pittsburg 62, No. 17 Cincinnati 52: Tray Woodall scored 14 points and led a late surge that sent Pittsburgh to a victory over Cincinnati, keeping the momentum going for one of the Big East’s hottest teams.

No. 19 Oregon 73, Utah 64: E.J. Singler had 21 points and Oregon overcame a poor start to end its three-game losing streak with a victory over Utah.

No. 20 Georgetown 69, Rutgers 63: Markel Starks scored 20 points and Otto Porter took over down the stretch to lead Georgetown over Rutgers.

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